Ocular rosacea: common and commonly missed

Abstract

Rosacea is a prevalent disorder that may be disfiguring and cause significant ocular morbidity, if not diagnosed and managed appropriately. Ocular rosacea, in particular, is often left undiagnosed as no specific test is available to confirm the diagnosis. Accurate diagnosis is further complicated because symptoms of ocular rosacea are not always specific to the disorder alone. Other ophthalmic disorders may present with similar findings. Further challenges exist because the severity of ocular symptoms is often not related to the severity of cutaneous findings in rosacea. Isolating a disease marker may facilitate earlier diagnosis and treatment, and could also contribute to better understanding of disease pathogenesis. The glycomics of tear fluid and saliva in patients with rosacea shows promise as an initial step in the search for a biomarker specific to the disease. We have previously found potentially important disease biomarkers in roseatic tear and saliva samples. Further investigation should prove important in the early stages of developing a set of markers for accurate disease identification.

Keywords: biomarker; conjunctivitis; disease triggers; ocular rosacea; rosacea; saliva; tear break-up time; tear fluid.